(warning for slightly grapihc horror)
That was the
warning parents gave the village children if they caught them straying too far.
But why? the children would plead, wanting to know more, why should they fear a dollmaker? but their parents would remain silent. Perhaps that was their mistake, children not told a full tale will often seek the answers needed to complete it.
Curiosity was a difficult beast to tame, and so, inevitably, a child would sneak away, up towards that mist-shrouded hillside, to the dollmakers domain.
A thrill would lace their steps, parents warning but a vague memory. What was there to fear here, but rotting trees and snow?
The bravado would wear off, however, as it always did, the deeper they went into the hilly zone, as they noticed discarded doll heads, the bludgeoned crows. This place was not right.
By the time they had reached the large gravestone, it was already too late.
What flowers bloom in winter?
All it took was one deep inhale of little lungs for the pollen to begin its work. An ache would begin to tug at the corners of their mind, something unknown forcing-tired legs forward, forward, forward, towards the barren mansion, up the peeling staircase, to a veiled woman waiting with open arms.
—–
It was exhausting work, controlling the hallucinogen through another, near draining when she made it work on herself as well, but work it did, and for a little while Donna Beneviento could delude herself into thinking the child she held in her arms was her beloved little sister.
Where have you been, Claudia?
Until, eventually, she would pull back and see the child, the real child, for the first time, The illusion would shatter like glass. The hair was too long, eyes a murky blue, the body gaunt and frail, her sister had had plump cheeks and dark eyes, and a smile as bright as stars.
No no no!
Relief would make way for sorrow, and hot on its heels, anger.
This was the fifth child this year.
None are like my Claudia.
She stood, like she had so many times before, and turned away.
She never liked watching this part.
This is a kindness, she would tell herself as she could hear Angie giggle, the dolls feet clicking across the floor, her wooden hands creaking and groaning as they made to grasp around the child’s neck and…
A loud snap broke the silence, and a thud.
This is a kindness she would repeat again, fever would get them out there, just like it had Claudia. Hunger, injury, or Miranda…
There is nothing but pain for them beyond these walls.
Tears flow down her cheeks, her veil sticking to her face like glue.
A small tug on her dress, Angie’s hand, her porcelain face gazing up at her in morbid glee.
Dry your tears Donna, Angie would say each time, we can make them better, we can make them family.
Angie was right, she supposed. Though a puny little thing, this girls’ hair and teeth were in good condition. The bones may be to brittle to work with, but she had leftovers from the last one.
I will take them and craft her into something new, something that will endure. Do for her what I could not for Claudia.
Her crying lessened, and a smile began to grow at the corners of her mouth. I can fix her.
She would need to fetch the Pliers, definitely her apron, removing teeth was bloody work, and she had tea with Alcina later, a dirtied dress would not do. The gardener need not know. The remains could go to the pigs.
Yes, beware the lady of House Beneviento parents would warn their wayward children, lest you end up one of her dolls.
I have never really written anything before aside from university essays and reports! so I’m not sure how this turned out. But the minute I saw Donna’s dolls, I felt there was something that looked a bit too human about them, and I had jotted down some stuff and came up with this. In my headcanon Claudia is Donna’s younger sister lost to fever, I liked the idea of her looking for a child with similar features, using her own hallucinogenic powers to convince herself that it was Claudia for a few moments, until it wears off, and she is back to searching, in the meantime, to try and fill the void she uses parts of the bodies to craft her dolls, trying to rebuild her lost family, it never lasts long however. (A bit brutal, I know, but this is Resident Evil) Alcina and her get on rather well too, meeting for tea a few times a week.